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The LSU Tigers continue their season on the road this week against the Arkansas Razorbacks.
Both teams are looking to bounce back after tough losses last week.
Currently, the Razorbacks stand fourth in the SEC West with the Tigers tagging behind two spots, sitting at sixth place in the division.
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LSU Tigers (2-3)
It’s safe to say the Tigers are not off to a great start this season. The defending National Champions have already dropped games to Mississippi State and Missouri this season.
Also, most recently, the Tigers took an embarrassing loss to Auburn losing 48-11 .
However, head coach Ed Orgeron knows this is a rebuilding year for his team. The Tigers had 14 players transfer to the NFL in a single draft class leaving the team with a less veteran squad. Three weeks off in the middle of a college football season due to the pandemic didn’t help the Tigers either–and definitely helped shave off some numbers from the team’s injury list.
With LSU’s last contest on Halloween weekend, followed by no game in 21 days, the Tigers are almost at the point where they are as healthy as they were at the start of the season.
Over the last 10 days, LSU had a large number of players in quarantine due to contact with others who tested positive for COVID-19. As a result, the SEC postponed last week’s Alabama contest to a date to be determined.
Orgeron feels good about his team getting back close to full strength and does not foresee any problems with having players available for Saturday’s kick-off at Arkansas.
Starting quarterback Myles Brennan is still out with a partially torn abdominal muscle. With Brennan’s injury, true freshman TJ Finley to likely make his third start. In this first two starts against South Carolina and Auburn, Finley posted 408 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions.
Arkansas Razorbacks (3-4)
Arkansas has definitely improved this season in regards to the last few years in the program. But, there still are some issues the team needs to clean up for the rest of the season.
The Hogs and former Gator quarterback Feleipe Franks took a tough loss, 63-35, to the Gators in the Swamp.
In Saturday’s game, Franks was 15 of 19 passing with 250 yards and two touchdowns. However, Florida’s Kyle Trask had an impressive performance against Arkansas with 23 of 29 passing with 356 yards and 6 touchdowns.
Arkansas also went into last week’s game without their head coach Sam Pittman after he tested positive for Covid-19. Coach Pittman says he’s personally glad to get back to work and comments on the team’s situation with the virus.
The Hogs go into their next game without star wide receiver De’Vion Warren, who suffered a torn ACL against Florida. He will remain out for the rest of the season.
Coach Pittman believes that starting tight end Hudson Henry will return after missing last week with a leg injury. Starting right guard Beaux Limmer has missed the last couple of games, and so has starting right tackle Noah Gatlin. Both could possibly return back to action this week against LSU.
What’s going to happen?
Last year when the Tigers and Razorbacks faced off, LSU was favored by over 40 points against the Hogs and beat Arkansas 56-20. But, the outcome may be different this time.
With Arkansas getting back Pittman back, the team is looking to bounce back with a victory at home. Franks needs to be the difference this game in order for the Hogs to pull out a win over the Tigers.
